This week, Zach Callison has dropped his long-awaited EP, titled A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak. We’ve been keeping an eye on him as he launched into the music industry, and he’s definitely someone we all should be watching. The EP contains nine tracks, four of which are interludes; three are the singles “War!”, “Curtain Call“, and “She Don’t Know“; and two are brand new tracks titled “Nightmare” and “Phantom Love”.
Zach Callison is best known for playing Steven Universe in the hit children’s TV show of the same name. He has had an extensive acting career from Sofia The First to Just Add Magic and The Goldbergs. Recently, he embarked on a singing career and his first single “War!” became an instant fan favourite and it’s his most-streamed track on Spotify, to-date. He followed it up with “Curtain Call” and “She Don’t Know“; then, this week saw him drop his debut EP A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak. We did manage to get some details prior to the release of the EP in our exclusive interview.
This EP deserves a track-by-track EP review, which is exactly what we are doing. We can’t wait to delve deep into this EP and fully live through every single second, just like you’re about to.
Phantom Love
Okay, the first track and Zach Callison HAS to make an impact, but he knows most of his fans have heard his singles so this is a brand new unheard song to kickstart his EP and it’s a soft ballad that progresses into a strong heartfelt ballad that truly allows him to shine in every way. About half-way through, the backing track turns it up a whole notch and a half, truly allowing this singer-songwriter to launch into the rockier depth of his music and lyrics, turning it into a brilliant rock-ish ballad. But he’s not done with impressing us, launching into a rap towards the end, that quickens and quickens; this truly shows how versatile Zach Callison truly is. His voice is brilliant and really unlocks the emotion where he sings about not wanting to break Juanita’s heart, not realising that that was what she wanted.
This track is a reflection of the end of their relationship, but who is Juanita? Well, that is a question we actually asked Zach Callison, so find out his answer in our exclusive interview.
Interlude I (Franticity)
So how do you follow an amazing opening track? Well, with an interlude, of course, but this is what Zach Callison has done with all his songs on this EP, which clearly means every single one of them are epic. Piano chords start the track off, followed by gossiping girls talking about Juanita’s ex, who we presume is Zach Callison. The ending has Zach Callison singing “over and over and over (etc.)” before screaming – we don’t blame him, gossiping girls are so childish.
She Don’t Know
This is one of our favourites on the EP, Zach Callison’s voice is just on point throughout as he sings about how much he loves this Juanita. It’s one passionate track that allows him to dominate in the whole song. It’s beyond catchy and something we could so listen to over and over again.
Interlude II (Christie Only Knows)
Second interlude, here we go, and it’s another piano intro which is very tuneful. Followed by his vocals, which reminds us a lot of “She Don’t Know” with some changes to the lyrics, most notably being “Christie Only Knows”, suggesting he found someone new to fall in love with.
Nightmare
The other unheard-track on the EP and Zach Callison jumps right in with a rap that is reminding us of something we would hear from Macklemore, it’s a story-telling rap that hits us in the heart as he truly tells us what he is feeling. A quarter of the way through, the backing track livens up and takes centre stage as we wait for him to sing the second rap verse. Rap, rock, and pop, Zach Callison sure knows how to deliver versatility in a single EP.
Interlude III (Second Thoughts)
This one is quite a mellow interlude, which we perhaps need after the “Nightmare” track. It rolls on perfect from the ending of “Nightmare” with Zach Callison continuing on the track in a whole new sense, a “Second Thoughts” kind-of sense.
Curtain Call
Now time for “Curtain Call”, and although we still don’t quite understand why this was chosen as the second single – as we think it’s the least-best track on the EP – we can now see how it fits in well with the whole collection. As a rock song, it takes some time to get used to, as Zach Callison sure loves to twist up normalcy and that’s exactly what he does. The first half feels lack-lustre, but it does bring out power as it launches into the second half. The beginning and the end uses quotes from the Italian Diodati Bible.
Interlude IV (Showtime) [feat. Grace Rolek]
Before we fully launch into this, Grace Rolek is Zach Callison’s co-star on Steven Universe, she plays Connie Maheswaran. It starts off with a ticking clock as Zach Callison and Grace Rolek converse in a singing twist as they play their characters. where Grace Rolek is playing Christie. It has a whole NF feel to it, that is full of passion and leads on brilliant to the finale track, “War!”.
War!
Here’s the most popular track and it ends this whole EP on a bang, one we fully love – there are even trumpets in the backing track. “War!” is just going to be known as an iconic Zach Callison song, no matter how far he gets with his music career, completely mixing up rap and rock without any of the difficulties true rock bands have had in the past – this is how you do it. It’s definitely one that will embed its chorus in your head.
If there’s anything to take away from this EP, it’s that Zach Callison is one true class act that knows how versatile he can be and it fully pays off. Mark our words when we say that Zach Callison is bound to be the next young star.
A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak is available to download and stream right now. We cannot wait to continue to watch Zach Callison’s career as he becomes more and more popular. Don’t forget to check out our interview with this young singer-songwriter.